After All This Time
Feb. 16th, 2026 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bard_linnFandom: FFXVI
Pairing: Joshua Rosfield/Dion Lesage
Originally Posted in: The Armiger Discord for the "With Love" event prompt 12 "After All This Time", also for the Phoenixflare discord's #PhoenixFlareCandyHearts event.
Summary: Joshua attends the annual ball held to find Dion Lesage's soulmate.
Author’s note: This takes place in a universe where Phoenix Gate never happened and soulmates are real. Individuals who have soulmarks have half of an infinity symbol (called an open mark) on their body when they are born. When they meet their mark becomes a full infinity sign. A close bond with your soulmate protects magic users from the curse. Skin on skin contact is required to close a bond.
Enter your cut contents here.Joshua tugged at his mask, adjusted his gloves, and smoothed his hair. Clive sighed, firmly grasped his brother’s hands, and forced them down. “You look fine.”
“I feel like a mess,” Joshua complained.
“There’s nothing for you to be nervous about,” Clive said firmly. “He’s your friend. And I know it can’t be the crowd. You handle court at home well enough.”
“I haven’t seen Dion for almost a decade!” Joshua fretted.
“You write each other every month.”
“It’s not the same,” Joshua protested. “Who knows if he’s only been writing back to be polite—”
“Joshua,” said Clive, grasping his shoulders and looking him in the eyes. “If he’s meant for you, it will be fine. If he isn’t, he will also be fine. You aren’t going to lose your friend because he’s not your soulmate.”
Except Joshua didn’t want to only be Dion’s friend. If he was honest, he couldn’t image anyone else being his soulmate. It was easy enough for Clive to say everything would be fine. He had found his soulmate ages ago.
Joshua softened a little as Jill came up to speak to Clive. As a child he had briefly resented how his brother automatically turned to his soulmate, but with age he had come to appreciate how Jill’s presence immediately brought a smile to Clive’s face.
If only he had shaken Dion’s hand when they were children! Then they would not have had to endure all of this.
Well, not that Joshua had endured much. Thankfully the Phoenix’s soulmate was not nearly as much of a matter of state as Bahamut’s. Every year, since Dion turned sixteen, the empire had held a magnificent masquerade ball with their end of year celebrations. Everyone with an open soul mark above a certain age was to attend so that their mark might be tried against the prince’s. The masquerade in theory gave anonymity to Bahamut’s soulmate, who would spend the rest of their life in guarded seclusion, only venturing out into public behind an elaborate veil and robe that obscured their identity. In reality, many of the players of the court would be able to identify each other, but those not of noble birth would have some protection from the political maze they’d be thrust into if they ended up Bahamut’s soulmate.
(Thankfully, Dominants were not required to hide themselves or live in seclusion, or Joshua would never have been allowed to attend.)
If Joshua had had his way, he would have gotten to go to that first ball, but other obligations at home had made travel impossible that year. Now, two years later, it was finally time for him to make his way down the stair to enter the grand ballroom.
The herald at the entrance at long last gestured to them. Joshua stepped forward, Clive falling into place a step behind him to guard his back. His own fine robes, in scarlet, black and gold, as well as his mask, a modified version of the one his Eikon wore, all but shouted his identity from the rooftops. Everyone knew that the Dominant and heir to Rosaria’s throne had come to the year’s end celebration at last. Still, no one addressed him by title, all of them pretending it was not obvious who he was.
Joshua made small talk with some of the attendees, listening attentively as they spoke about this or that happenstance within the empire. No one would speak to him of anything that would provide an unfavorable view of the empire, of course, but gossip in and of itself was information. He could glean more from this than most realized.
“Excuse me, my lord.”
Joshua turned to see a man in Dion’s personal livery. His heart sped up. It must be time. “Yes?”
“If you would please follow me?”
“Gladly.” Joshua followed him to where the Prince of Sanbreque stood, his face grave. Only he and the Emperor, by tradition, stood unmasked and ungloved among the throng. Dion looked ethereal in his white finery, a divine warrior sent to earth. Joshua firmly refrained from sighing over his shoulders or imagining the muscles underneath the delicate fabrics. Instead, he smiled and bowed. “Good evening, your Highness.”
Dion’s lips quirked a bit, his eyebrows raising as if to say ‘surely not titles from you?,’ but he too knew the game they must play. “Good evening.”
Joshua removed the red rose from his breast, carefully cared for over their trip and offered it to the prince. This particular breed was their family specialty, the flower that had given them their name, ages ago. “Would you honor me this evening with a dance?”
A genuine smile crossed Dion’s face. “Gladly.” Obedient to the rules of the night, he accepted the flower and placed it in his own buttonhole. If Joshua was not his soulmate, the flower would be placed in a waiting vase and Dion’s guard would select another to try their hand against the prince.
Joshua fervently prayed to the Founder that his rose would stay right where it was.
Dion held out his hand and Joshua stepped forward, taking it. They moved into the center of the ballroom, stepping into hold, pausing for a moment to look into each other’s eyes before they began to dance, following the careful scripted steps of the imperial style. Joshua found himself lost in Dion’s warm brown eyes, resisting the urge to lay his forehead against the prince’s. He had dreamed of this moment for years, ever since he heard of the traditions they used to find Bahamut’s soulmate.
“I’m glad that you are here at last, Phoenix.”
“Now what makes you think I’m Joshua Rosfield?” Joshua teased. “I might be a pig farmer.”
Dion laughed, the warm sound sending a shiver of glee through Joshua. “You could never. You would be lost without your books.” His face grew soft. “And I could never mistake who you are. I know you.”
“You do,” Joshua agreed. “But it is good to see you again, after so long. Letters are simply not enough.”
“I feel much the same… though I have to say, I quite appreciate what the years have granted you. You are no longer the little bird chick you once were.” Dion’s voice was teasing, but the look in his eyes was decidedly not. The heat in them brought a faint blush to Joshua’s cheeks, his mind turning down paths he’d best not contemplate given his current setting.
But oh, how he wanted to.
All too soon, the song ended. Obedient to the traditions handed down through the ages, Dion escorted Joshua off the dance floor, returning to his origial location. Around them, conversation stopped as all those gathered waited to see what the results of the test would be. Joshua equally fought hope and fears as he gently raised the prince’s hand to his mouth, placing a light kiss on the back of it.
The simplest of touches was all it took. Instantly their connection snapped into place, Dion’s own worries and desires washed into Joshua, changing rapidly to triumph and delight as he too felt their joining. Joshua tugged on the hand still in his possession, drawing his soulmate closer, one hand reaching up to cup Dion’s face as he pressed close to have their first real kiss.
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Date: 2026-02-16 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-16 10:24 pm (UTC)I'm glad you enjoyed!💙❤️
no subject
Date: 2026-02-16 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-17 10:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-17 05:08 am (UTC)Still, it is nice that they allow the Dominant to find their soulmate rather than an arranged marriage. An effective Dominant is a happy Dominant!
no subject
Date: 2026-02-17 10:30 pm (UTC)Keeping your workers happy is very effective management!
Glad you enjoyed! 🐦🔥🐉